An early clinical phenotype of necrotizing meningoencephalitis in the Pug reveals similarities to multiple sclerosis in humans.

Abstract

Necrotizing meningoencephalitis (NME) is a fatal neuroinflammatory disease that previously carried a uniformly grave prognosis. Our recent identification of a novel early form of NME in Pugs suggests that disease onset and progression are likely more insidious than previously recognized and provides new hope that early therapeutic intervention may halt disease progression and ultimately prevent or cure NME. This novel perspective also sheds new light on the clinical similarities to multiple sclerosis (MS) in humans and provides a rationale for cross-species translation. The history of recent scientific discoveries in NME and new parallels between MS and NME will be reviewed.